The extreme right in Europe: Vox continues to grow in Spain, but to what extent?

Almost all Spanish political parties celebrated Emmanuel Macron’s victory in the French presidential election against Marine Le Pen’s far -right National Front. Almost all except Vox, the Spanish formation to the right of the right who prefers to cling to Le Pen’s “historical” results.

“The support of 45 per cent of the French is an extraordinary result for Marine Le Pen and it would be a big mistake to ignore it,” said Jorge Buxadé, first vice president of Vox Political Action and head of the party’s delegation on social network Parliament of Europe.

He accompanied the post, which was uploaded to his networks at 11:41 pm on Sunday, with a photo with candidate Le Pen on the night of his second-round defeat against Macron.

In Spain, however, the extreme right of Vox is from the celebration of a small big success: his debut in a regional government.

A few days ago, the new government of the Junta de Castilla y León took office, Spain’s first autonomy with an Executive consisting of the Popular Party (PP) and Vox.

Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, re -elected regional president of the PP, he has no one else to form a government with 31 -year -old lawyers, Juan Garcia-GallardoVox voters did not know until party leader Santiago Abascal anointed him as a candidate.

García-Gallardo has, since April 19, Vice President of Castilla y Leónno executive functions.

Not bad for a game started in 2014 and that, in the last general election, became the third political force in Spain: has 52 representatives in Congress.

“Vox was a party that was born dead”, he sentences, however, to Clarion political scientist and professor Fernando Vallespin.

“In the beginning, it was a split from the Popular Party that barely reached 1 percent of the vote and that it is destined for the same thing to happen in La Falange, what is left of Francoism, ”the political analyst added.

The Catalan conflict, its fuel

And he continued: “They were parties then outside the Spanish political system. But what gave him so much life was the catalan battle (and its attempt to become independent from Spain in 2017). represented by vox extreme Spanish nationalism and its initial victory would not have been understood without the Catalan battle. ”

“When the Socialist Party came to power with its parliamentary allies (in 2020), where there were independent Catalan or Basques, and the coalition government with the Podemos, there was a sector of the right that he radicalizes much against the Socialist Party ”, clarification

“Ayan vox he began to search for his own land where he practices cultural wars. It attacks the radicalized feminism that, according to them, exists in Spain, attack tolerance towards immigrationstrengthen the discourse of Spanish unity ”, he noted.

In Castile and Leon the situation is difficult. The Socialist Party would have worked so that Vox would not enter the government with abstention but does not want to do so. He suggested that if the PP stopped working with Vox in other regional Parliaments, it would help him. It’s a poisonous offer ”, said Vallespín who teaches Political Science at the Autonomous University of Madrid.

Just in case, the new president of the Popular Party and former president of Galicia, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, avoided attending the inauguration of his party colleague Fernández Mañueco. He debated the overflowing agenda of promises to social agents at PP headquarters on Génova Street in Madrid and That’s why he avoided the picture with Santiago Abascal.

“Now the PP has a leadership that offers to be closer to Spanish society. He remembers (Mariano) Rajoy’s pragmatic PP better, without all the corruption scandals in his backpack. A PP modified by a leader who won four elections by an absolute majority in his homeland, Galicia, and offers him the hope of beating the Socialist Party, to become the party with the most votes “, said Vallespín.

But a new concern is growing around Vox after the announcement of Andalusia’s president, Juanma Moreno, of the PP, who has set a date for elections to her autonomy: 19th June.

A necessary support

According to the latest polls, the Andalusian Popular Party will come in June in a better position than the PSOE. HoweverI will need Vox support to achieve the parliamentary majority necessary to govern.

“Extreme right parties usually survive thanks to their status of parties seen as anti -system -Vallespín defined them -. This kind of political moralization in which the voters of certain parties are pointed out as harmed, in depth, benefit from them.matchups. It’s about demonizing them to prevent them from growing and the opposite is happening. “

And he affirmed: “It has been proven that when these types of parties enter governments, they tend to be moderate and likely to lose the vote. What gives them support is be outsidersthose who challenge the political spectrum or the dominant values ​​in the political system ”.

And about the possible role Vox could play in the next general election, scheduled for next year, Vallespín insists that “Feijóo, if he wins the elections, he will never be able to rule alone”.

“The majority of Popular Party voters He has no problem with an alliance with Vox. They see it more seriously that the Socialist Party agrees with Podemos or relies on parliamentary allies like Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya or Bildu, the representatives of the old ETA, ”he said.

And he added: “Because they see Vox as misguided PP voters. That is, for Feijóo, he will not lose many votes before the threat that he will agree to Vox.

According to Vallespin, “no action on the side of the government to help the PP so that it no longer needs Vox votes. On the other hand, PP thinks so can end the domestication of Voxthat he could be included in the government without including his most difficult proposals ”.

In their focus on the next general election, from the PP, however, they began to cry out loud: “There’s nothing to do but agree with Vox to get to La Moncloa.”

Madrid. Correspondent

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